Comic-Con Inks Deal To Stay in San Diego: Reports

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The unconventional convention Comic-Con will stay in its birthplace for at least five years, according to published reports.

Several news outlets, including Entertainment Weekly, reported Thursday that Comic-Con had committed to staying in San Diego “for the foreseeable future,” and at least though 2015. The convention's San Diego lease was set to expire in 2012.

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There were moments in the recent past when some local fans and businesses had to imagine a world without Comic-Con in San Diego, when other cities, including Anaheim, attempted to entice convention organizers into a move.

“In the end, we feel this decision is the best for all those who attend Comic-Con and for the organization itself," David Glanzer, Comic-Con’s director of marketing and public relations, said in a news release. "We are happy that the community has worked with us to ensure that we remain here.”

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Comic-Con was born in 1970 in the basement of the U.S. Grant Hotel in the heart of San Diego but has grown into a behemoth taking over the convention center and many meeting rooms of nearby hotels. Its costumed attendees flood the city by the thousands, and, for a few colorful days a year, transform the city into a metropolis out of the pages of fantasy and science fiction.

An official announcement is expected to be made on Friday at the convention center.